In making this announcement Les has asked me to publicly thank Jill Havern for opening up this section on CMOMM to publicise his fight for the truth, and to thank every member here who has sent a message of support and encouragement to him on the various threads here.

Les Balkwell is pleased tonight to announce to members and guests of CMOMM that he has today accepted the sum of £40,000 in full and final settlement of his claim against Essex Police under the Human Rights Act, for its admitted failure to conduct an effective investigation into the death his son Lee on 18 July 2002.

Thus ends another milestone on his long journey towards all the truth and justice for Lee. To get this far has taken him over 14 years or, to be precise, 5,262 days so far.

Les had claimed the maximum he was allowed, £50,000, under County Court rules, and decided to accept the sum of £40,000 after he won an earlier High Court ruling compelling Essex Police to disclose 40 sets of documents they had hitherto kept secret from Les and his advisers.

In making this announcement Les has asked me to publicly thank Jill Havern for opening up this section on CMOMM to publicise his fight for the truth, and to thank every member here who has sent a message of support and encouragement to him on the various threads here.

The Times newspaper broke the story today, and that part of it which is not hidden behind the Times paywall is reproduced below.

It seems Les has also struck a blow against the hopes of the current Chief Constable of Essex, Stephen Kavanagh, of replacing Bernard Hogan-Howe as Met Police Commissioner when he retires in February. Les has tasked me with pursuing with Devon and Cornwall Police a number of complaints he made to the Independent Police Complaints Commission about Stephen Kavanagh earlier this year. In particular, Les has documentary proof that Stephen Kavanagh was complicit in the refusals of Essex and Kent Police to take a statement from a whistleblower who, as a former Essex Police Intelligence Officer, had supplied information to Les that his son had been murdered and that there had been a cover-up organised at the very highest levels of Essex Police.

Les has specifically authorised me to inform members and guests here that he has for some months been assisted by several members of a team of former Met Police homicide detectives who are now conducting a private investigation on Les's behalf, independent of Essex and Kent Police forces - who have previously conducted a series of failed reviews on the case - and independent of any other police forces.

Finally he wishes to publicly thank the legal team from Doughty Street Chambers and his solicitors for bringing home this major result for him.